Friends Erik, Jeff and Ike stick together during both good times and bad. Erik became blind at an early age but didn't let that get him down. In 2001, he reached the summit of Mount Everest. Jeff serves as Erik's "eyes in the field." He has been Erik's primary climbing guide for over 20 years and is a published author and motivational speaker. Ike is a combat engineer officer in the military, earning two Bronze Star Medals, a Purple Heart and an Army Commendation Medal, among others. He has served in Iraq and Afghanistan and will deploy again to Afghanistan after completing Expedition Impossible. We can't wait to see these guys in action.

My dad has met Erik Weihenmayer so I was excited after seeing previews for the show and looking up more information about it to find that the Erik they mentioned was the Erik I'd heard so much about from my dad! My dad, Craig Kiser, is also blind and he went with a group of other blind and non-blind people to try climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in 2005. High altitude sickness kept my dad from reaching the summit. He tried again last year but had the same problem. Apparently it wasn't meant to be but you can't say he didn't try! You'd sure never catch me trying to climb a mountain and I'm fully sighted. Maybe it would help me if I was blind because my fear of heights might not kick in if I couldn't see how high up I was.

I'm a member of the Council of the Blind in Tallahassee and it amazes me how much I learn about the blind all the time. I grew up with a blind parent and thought I knew a lot about their limitations, aspirations, etc, but they're a lot more capable than people realize. In some ways, sighted people are at a handicap because we rely on our sight so much and the eye can be deceived. The blind find ways to adapt and do the same things we do using their brain and other senses.

I'm interested to see how well No Limits do. I hope they at least make final three. It would be wonderful if they came in first! I'll be rooting for them.

07-05-2011, 07:13 PM

TripleGemini

Re: Team: No Limits

I love the fact that it's not preaching to us..."Blind people can do anything anyone else can do..." (yes, TAR, I'm looking at you). I'm an accessibility expert and work with a lot of folks who are blind or visually impaired. (I worked with one guy in NYC who's a Drupal expert...he took care of the code, I took care of the design.) I'm rooting for this team.